June Gloom
by itsbittersweet
Summary: It's still raining.


The rain began on Tuesday, the day Sasuke was brought back to Konoha, and continued on through the day to Wednesday, leaving the streets thoroughly sodden and the trees bowing with the weight of water.

The raven-haired boy rested in a hospital bed, unable to truly sleep, wishing that he was anywhere but there. His right arm, which rested in a sling, would no longer be usable, but it would remain intact. The nerves had been severed, and ruined, and burnt-out—by Rasenshuriken, he had been told—and there was nothing any of the medics could do. So broken bones were set, shredded skin in wraps, and, thanks to pain-killers, any ache he might have felt stayed dull and numb.

A quiet knock on the door, and someone walked into the room. Sasuke's eyes focused and refocused, trying to determine who it was, and all that he could see was a blur of pink hair. That was all he needed to know who it was, It wasn't like pink was a common hair color.

Sakura moved across the room to the window to place the flowers Ino had sent, carefully rearranging them to their original positions in a perfect display. She knew the curtains were drawn, the already dreary sunlight dimmed, so that his eyes wouldn't strain, but it seemed far too miserable for any patient to stay in that room. The boy sat slumped up against a pillow, his eyes vacant, and his face void of any emotion. He glanced around the room, and it might appear as if he was searching for something, but there wasn't anything to be found. He was a different person than the teammate she knew three years ago, but in a way, he was almost entirely the same.

"It's still raining…" She sighed. A constant drumming on the roof could be heard, the rain sounding angry and distraught. The green-eyed girl looked over at Sasuke to find him staring vaguely back at her. She stepped away from the window, pausing for a moment to wonder what he could be thinking. He looked away from her, to the empty wall beside her. She didn't need to be told how he regretted killing his brother, or that he found himself more intolerable than he ever thought Itachi was, she just knew somehow.

There was no way he would ever be as strong as he was only a week ago, there was nothing left for him. He shifted his slung arm and closed his eyes for a moment, a new headache resonating in his skull. When he opens his eyes, he saw that Sakura was now to his right, reading through the medical notes left about him from the other doctors and nurses, his eyes able to distinguish the girl much more clearly as she was closer.

"How are you feeling? Any pain?" She asked, looking up from the paperwork. He looked tired, but his face still held a certain intensity. She wondered what had happened while he was gone that changed him so much, what could possibly cause him to act the way he had.

There was no reply.

She nodded and put the clipboard back in its place, and moved over to stand beside the bed. She moved slow, he noticed, her left arm leaning on a crutch. Sakura would always get caught up in the middle, risking her own life just trying to keep Naruto and Sasuke from killing each other.

"That cut across your shoulder is pretty bad. Is it okay if I take a look? It doesn't seem like the bleeding has stopped." She said impassively.

He had hurt her, both mentally and physically, he knew that much.

"Whatever." It was a short answer, and his voice was strained and weak. He mentally cringed at the sound, attempting feebly to clear his throat. He avoided eye contact, not wanting her to see how weak he was, not wanting anyone to see him like how he was.

She carefully unwrapped the bandages from his shoulder to his mid-back, a crimson gash crossing across his pale skin. The cut was raw still, just as painful as it was the day before.

"You'll need stitches." Sakura said, turning to get what she needed from the cupboard near the door. She motioned for him to move over so she could sit beside him on the bed.

The cut stung, making Sasuke wince as she cleaned the wound. He rested his head on his knees, his headache getting worse, and wished the dosage on his morphine drip were stronger.

"Sorry." She said sincerely, and the pain subsided, a pale green glow emanating from her palm. Not even a glimpse of the girl he used to know shone through for even a moment.

A silence settled, and he could feel stitches tugging at his skin.

He had heard how frustrated Naruto was with him, how Kakashi was disappointed, how everyone was so mad for what he did, but Sakura remained unspoken, almost uncaring toward him. It was worse to hear nothing from her after everyone yelling at him for the past few days, for the past few years.

Sasuke didn't know what he was supposed to do, he didn't know if he could try to mend the damage he caused, or if it was better to just leave her alone. He always wanted to push her away, keep her from asking questions, from trying to save him.

He didn't want to hurt her anymore, he didn't want to be hurt anymore. He didn't want bonds, friendships, anything that could tie him emotionally to something so irreplaceable.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, shifting slightly in attempt to see his face. The only other sound in the room was from a heart monitor, making steady beeps in even intervals.

Once. Twice. A third time.

"Fine." He answered curtly. She didn't need to know that he found solace in pain, that the cuts that overwhelmed his skin were helping, not hurting. They were a distraction from the thoughts that were always making things worse, complicating the already complicated, the guilt that never seemed to leave.

"You're upset." She continued, ignoring the answer she knew to be a lie.

He considered telling her about the nightmares and false truths he knew, and how he hated himself more than he ever had before, but didn't.

"I'm sorry. It must be hard on you, with everything that happened." Sakura finished-up the stitches and began to re-wrap his chest in fresh bandages. The scar would be hardly visible once healed, she did her best to make sure of that.

"Yeah." He said finally, his voice quiet, almost inaudible.

"They're only mad because they care, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, I mean. It won't last."

He nodded weakly, his head still buried in his arms. He felt sick even thinking about it, about killing his own brother, about wanting to kill Naruto and Kakashi and…Sakura.

"If you want to talk, I'm always here." She said meekly, knowing that he wouldn't want to.

He looked up at her, his eyes dark, his skin pale. He looked more shaken than she had last seen him, his regularly cool and calm personality missing.

"I told you to leave me alone." He said coldly. "I don't need friends or whatever the hell you're suggesting."

"I know that." She sighed, her eyes stinging a bit as she tried to keep composure. "Why, though? Because you hate everyone, or because you're afraid you'll lose them?"

He turned his gaze to the window leading outside, where the world was drowning in its own tears.

"Does it even matter?" He asked defensively.

"That's for you to decide, isn't it?"

He didn't reply, he didn't want to.

"I would never do anything to hurt you, just know that." She spoke her words carefully, as if they might come back to bite her.

"I know." He said under his breath, regretting that he ever wanted her dead. Regretting he ever wanted anyone dead.

Sakura looked at the boy before her, his hands trembling, his voice hushed. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, lightly so as not to cause any harm.

His muscles tensed and he almost pulled away from her, but he couldn't bring himself to. She was comforting, warm. He felt his heart flutter lightly, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He hated it, but was too tired to do anything about it.

"I'm sorry," He began. "I d…"

"It's okay." She told him. "You did what you had to. Sometimes things don't work out."

He sat still for a moment before shifting his good arm to rest around her waist. She must have been crying, he thought, because tears seemed to be soaking into the shoulder of his shirt.

"I don't want anything to happen to you, I don't want you dead." She confessed. "You're still a part of team 7, even if you don't want to be."

"I know."

The downpour slowly began to let up, only whispers of raindrops left to fill the silence.


End file.
